DC Comic Characters = Unrelatable?

[MadVillainy]

Ok when the whole Siegel gaining more Superman rights story came about I saw it on some site I forgot its name I think spill.com

Anyway, in the comments section of the article someone said something along the lines of: "Eh. I'm a MArvel fan anyway DC characters arent really relatable"

And that had me rubbing my chin for weeks. I mean do you think DC comic characters are unrelatable?

I think I would have to say yes. They do have relatable moments but as a whole I dont think DC or Marvel characters are relatable save for a few. I mean really how can you relate to a guy who has his parents killed in front of him or a guy who can lift cars over his head or a girl who can fly

So in short no I dont think DC (or Marvel) comic characters are relatable across the board, but I dont think that makes them any worse. And there are some exceptions

For instance:
Wally West (big surprise for those who know me) is very relatable thats why I think I like him so much. I have an older brother and my 2 best friends are my brothers age and I was in their shadows for the longest time. Wally West was in the shadow of Barry Allen for the longest time as well eventually coming out of it for the most part to become his own person.

Martian Manhunter is relatable in a sense. Just in the way that hes out of place and all that and if youve ever been somewhere new where you dont know anyone or you look or feel different about something than everybody else I feel he's relatable

And then there are relatable aspects to almost every character. You can relate to early Superman probaly if you admire someone from afar for a long time, Batman if youve ever feel more comfortable wearing a "mask" of sorts, or Wonder Woman if youre in a place thats dominated by people that are different from you

 

[MaskedManJRK]

I always found it odd that people say that DC characters are so unrelatable because of their powers when Marvel has the same kind of power-level characters. You don't hear about people not relating to Spider-Man because they can't swing through New York, or Wolverine because he's hundreds of years old and can shoot claws out of their hands.

I look at it like this: Superman is an immigrant who tries to fit in and help protect his new home. Batman is a detective with a dark past that makes it hard for him to interact with other people. Wonder Woman is an activist who helps save people's lives while promoting a social message of equality. Like the characters in Marvel, when you pull away the powers, you have engaging people underneith.

 

[Ion Kenshin]

They have some relatable qualities but I prefer them for the unrelatable ones if that makes sense. I like that many of DC's heroes are larger than life almost. As a comic book reader sometimes I don't wanna be the guy with the superpowers. I wanna be the guy who watches the heroes fighting around me.


(hope that made sense)

 

[SpideyInATree]

They have some relatable qualities but I prefer them for the unrelatable ones if that makes sense. I like that many of DC's heroes are larger than life almost. As a comic book reader sometimes I don't wanna be the guy with the superpowers. I wanna be the guy who watches the heroes fighting around me.


(hope that made sense)

Made sense to me.

I think why many people, almost blindly, say that DC characters are not relatable is mainly because Marvel went out of their way in the 60's to make their superheroes have such human flaws. It made the readers go..."Oh, this guy with the super strength, agility, spider-sense, ability to stick to walls, and websling through the city has the SAME PROBLEMS I DO!"

DC characters can be relatable and MaskedManJRK definitely pointed out those reasons that they can be. It's all in what you want in your comic reading really. Maybe you want to relate with a character on a certain level. Maybe you want a superhero/super powered individual to be over the top powers and just watching some great superhero action.

Everyone has different reasons but, with all stories, there are always going to be certain characters, main and supporting, that you are going to identify with in some form or another.

 

[CConn]

I think the concept of DC's heroes being anymore unrelated than Marvel's heroes is largely a farce born from Marvel readers ignorance on the facets of the DC Universe and it's amazingly varied bullpen of characters. Remember, when we talk about DC characters, we're talking about Charlton, Fawcett, Archie, and the multiple other comic companies DC has absorbed over the years.

Now obviously, when you start dealing with superpowered beings, and aliens, and the like, they inherently becomes more unrelatable as they become more detached from the general populace of humanity. Which is something both Marvel and DC characters suffer from to an extent. Can anyone sympathize with the Watcher? Does anyone feel any kinship to the Guardians? Of course not. But for every Watcher, there's a Peter Parker, and for every Guardian, there's a Wally West, etc.

I think it should also be pointed out that certain characters' power levels and characterizations have changed dramatically with each decade, and that can have a great effect on how relatable they are. And it is true that back in the 50s and early 60s before Marvel came around, the status quo for the several comic companies around at the time was to be very larger than life, very scfi-fi, and in many ways, hard to relate to. Nowadays, that's changed pretty dramatically, and all comic book characters are pretty grounded, and human...not just sci-fi.

So on the whole, I think both companies have a pretty good balance of really human characters and really...far removed characters. That's really another smart part of what makes it interesting. To have those characters you feel a kinship to, and have characters who are just so hard to understand they're very mysterious and interesting. And in a lot of instances, I prefer the latter. I'm a much bigger fan of the Fantastic Four's larger than life adventures, then Peter Parker's daily human struggles. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

 

[Hush]

Well I mean they are relatable to to what ever you see happening to them and how they deal with it. It makes you think, how would i do that? I would assume that makes you able to relate with them. Just how I deal with it. Just because every character in Marvel is based in New York doesnt mean they are more relatable.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think relatability's overrated, personally. I can't relate to Superman or Captain America very much, but they're two of my favorite characters nonetheless. Sometimes I read a comic to remind myself how good the world could be if everyone weren't as miserable or insufferable or weak as normal people are, and no one does that better than the bright, shining examples of heroism like Superman or Cap.

 

[The Batman]

I think relatability's overrated, personally. I can't relate to Superman or Captain America very much, but they're two of my favorite characters nonetheless. Sometimes I read a comic to remind myself how good the world could be if everyone weren't as miserable or insufferable or weak as normal people are, and no one does that better than the bright, shining examples of heroism like Superman or Cap.

This...The term "relatability" is merely a smokescreen used by ignorant fanboys who simply dont have the guts to say that they prefer marvel because they simply dont know much about dc besides their preconceived notions

 

[SuperFerret]

I can relate to more DC characters than Marvel characters. Aside from (the original) Peter Parker, Hank McCoy and Ben Grimm, I don't relate much to Marvel's characters.

 

[TheComicbookKid]

I came to the conclusion a while ago that the difference is that DC characters are about overcoming their problems while Marvels are about constantly being mired in them. What Quesada did with Spidey is proof of that and the X-men are all about it. People seem to always be fascinated by DC heroes in the Year One template because that's where they face their most difficult obstacles before reaching respective iconic status.

 

[CConn]

I came to the conclusion a while ago that the difference is that DC characters are about overcoming their problems while Marvels are about constantly being mired in them. What Quesada did with Spidey is proof of that and the X-men are all about it. People seem to always be fascinated by DC heroes in the Year One template because that's where they face their most difficult obstacles before reaching respective iconic status.

That's a good point. People talk a lot about the tones of the different universes. DC being lighter and Marvel being darker, one being more realistic and the other being more unrealistic...and I've never seen either of those statements to be true. It's much more a cause of what you said; it's about the focus of the story, the moral, the resolution...and not so much about what's grime and gritty, and shiny and light.

 

[LouFerignoDemon]

I think once upon a time, DC might've been something you couldn't relate to, where with Marvel, you could. But, as times change, and the success of the "Everyday superhero" with Marvel took the cake, DC changed too.

They're pretty much BOTH relatable.

 

[The Question]

I think people take the concept of relatability in fiction way too literally. Yeah, you can't relate to a guy who can lift cars over his head and fly. But a lot of people can relate to a nice, honest man who want's to live a simple and happy life, but due to his better nature and position is forced to deal with responsibility after responsibility and crisis after crisis. Not many people can relate to a wealthy vigilante detective who's parents were murdered when he was eight. But a large number of people can relate to someone who has spent his entire adult life being depressed, obsessive, and anti-social. It's about relating on an emotional level, not in terms of events the characters participate in.

 

[Harlekin]

When speaking of the differences between DC and Marvel characters, I'm always reminded of a particular quote, from an unknown message board poster that basically goes like this: Marvel has normal people with powers who try to be heroes, DC has heroes who try to be normal people.

 

[Manic]

People who say Marvel heroes are more relatable than DC heroes remind me of those annoying anime fans who say that all anime is better than western animation. For those anime fans, I usually ask them to compare crap like Tokyo Pig to Gargoyles, which sends me into a huge rant (usually about how comedy targeted toward small kids NEVER seems as high quality as action/drama targeted toward teens & adults). That said...

Who's more relatable: Silver Surfer or The Flash?

People always cite how unrelatable Batman and Superman are when they talk about DC's characters. That's fine, except you don't compare Batman and Superman to teenagers who feel like outcasts (X-Men, Spider-Man, ect); you compare them to some other dedicated rich man and heroic icon (Iron Man and Captain America). And Iron Man is absolutely no more relatable than Batman.

DC has a lot of characters who are relatable and feel like real people. Wally West (Flash), Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern). Feel like an outcast who just wants to fit in? Martian Manhunter. Feel like nobody has faith in you to do things right, despite the fact that you know you can if given the chance? Booster Gold. Just a teenager trying to get by? Blue Beetle. Stop looking at DC's most "larger than life" characters, and maybe you'll find someone you can relate to. Hell, read a Superman comic on the right month, and you might find that you and he aren't so different once you get past the superpowers.

 

[LadyVader]

Any character, and I do mean any character (even Joker for instance), can be relatable when written in a relatable way. It's up to the writer to figure out how to make the readers empathize with these fictional entities. So the questions is, who has the better writers, DC or Marvel?

 

[Anubis]

I agree with everything that Corp said, Manic said, Question, and the Mistress. That said, I usually say that people that say they can't relate to DC characters are idiots.

 

[Hush]

What about what I said Nub?

 

[Anubis]

gibberish.

 

[04nbod]

Someone on this forum once told me that Supergirl was never meant to be relatable. I can't believe I remember that, it was years ago. (the DC boards used to be trash)

 

[kguillou]

double post

 

[kguillou]

I think it also has to do with the worlds that the marvel and DC characters live. I think the simple fact that the marvel characters all reside in real places like New York city while the DC characters live in imaginary cities automatically give the impression that DC's characters are unrelatable. I guess when your reading a comic where spiderman is swinging past the empire state building or the FF4 are battling in Madison Square Garden, it feels more down to earth whereas places like Gotham City, Metropolis and Central City arent real places and therefore it feels more "fantasy-like" than marvel does. Just my two cents.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

And yet, the most popular character from DC lives in Gotham City and none of his legions of fans seem to mind.

 

[Anubis]

I think it also has to do with the worlds that the marvel and DC characters live. I think the simple fact that the marvel characters all reside in real places like New York city while the DC characters live in imaginary cities automatically give the impression that DC's characters are unrelatable. I guess when your reading a comic where spiderman is swinging past the empire state building or the FF4 are battling in Madison Square Garden, it feels more down to earth whereas places like Gotham City, Metropolis and Central City arent real places and therefore it feels more "fantasy-like" than marvel does. Just my two cents.

Pfft, if that's the case, then people shouldn't be able to relate to Marvel cuz most people don't live in the NYC. So him swinging down "insert famous street in Manhatten" don't mean s**t to a guy living in Butt freckle, Iowa. F**k New York.

 

[LadyVader]

I'd rather live in Gotham than New York but that's just me.